Fractality of Software Tools

  • Notion, Roam, Muse, file systems feel "fractal":
    • blocks within blocks in Notion
    • boards within boards in Muse
    • bullet points within bullet points Roam
    • folders within folders in file system
  • hash-maps are also fractal
  • Figma is not fractal - tabs, canvases and layers are all different things, and can't be nested ad infinitum
  • fractal tools seem to give more freedom, but at a cost - how to Orient Myself in these possibly infinite structures (also mentioned in Places in Software)
Orientation in Fractal Software
Pixel Space and Tools
Second-Order Tool Building
  • the former (the Smalltalk-like approach), is related to the ideas of Fractality of Software Tools - everything is objects within objects (or functions within functions in Lisp-land), and when you can change how they behave, you can make your own tools in the tool